Assistant Professor
686, Biomedical Research Tower
460 W 12th Avenued
Columbus, OH 43210
Phone: 614-257-3942
Research Focus
The ability of the genome to integrate different biological signals and respond by modulating appropriate transcriptional programs underlies gene expression changes in both physiological and pathological states. Epigenetic regulatory mechanisms are essential for this adaptative response.
Obesity, diabetes, and aging display common metabolic and molecular alterations that lead to damage of the peripheral and central nervous system and are associated to loss of repair capacity following spinal and nerve injury.
Our research focuses on disentangling the plasticity of the epigenome in response to these conditions and axonal injury with the long-term goal of identifying key epigenetic and transcriptional pathways that can be targeted to reprogram neurons towards a regenerative/repair state.
Approaches
To achieve this goal, we use a combination of approaches:
- Biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology: primary cultures, transfection, AAV infection, immunoprecipitation, Western blotting, RT-PCR, DNA cloning, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, FACS sorting.
- In vivo: mouse models of diabetic neuropathy, nerve and spinal cord injury, AAV delivery for gene knockdown or overexpression.
- Imaging: immunohistochemistry, epifluorescence and confocal microscopy.
- Multi-omics: RNA-seq (bulk and single-cell), ATAC-seq (bulk and single-cell), CUT&Tag, CUT&Run, Hi-C, promoter capture Hi-C, proteomics, metabolomics.
Education and Training
MSc:
1999: Biology, University of Lecce, Lecce, Italy
PhD:
2003-2006: Biology and Biotechnology, University of Lecce, Lecce, Italy and San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Postdoctoral Training:
2006-2013: Center for Translational Genomics and Bioinformatics, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
2016-2022: Division of Neuroscience, Imperial College, London, UK.